Conventionally, pickup trucks include a tailgate at the back of a bed that closes off a cargo box. Often times, the truck bed is not long enough to hold the cargo, so truck bed extenders have been developed. The truck bed extenders work in conjunction with the open tailgate in order to provide additional length to the bed. Some of the bed extenders mount to the outside of the tailgate or to the box itself, which may be convenient for deployment, but they tend to interfere with cargo space in the box since the bed extender, when not in use, protrudes into the box. Moreover, it is typical for the vehicle operator to employ the extender only occasionally, so it is generally undesirable to have the extender exposed at all times, which detracts from the attractiveness of the vehicle.
Additionally, it is sometimes desirable to have an extender that can provide other functions in addition to a bed extender, such as a box extender function—an upwardly extending structure from the rearmost edge of an open tailgate that mimics the function of a closed tailgate. Such arrangements are particularly useful for carrying a load that is longer than the bed, but needs rearward support, such as provided by a closed tailgate, in order to prevent the load from falling rearwardly off the pick-up truck. Again, though, typical box extenders that provide adequate functionality are externally mounted and not only detract from the vehicle appearance when not in use but also require changes to the box for mounting such extenders. Also, most of these types of extenders are very cumbersome to deploy and later stow away, thus being undesirable for the operator to use. Such functions may be provided with simple ergonomic operation of the assembly, while still allowing for an attractive appearance for the vehicle when the extender is stowed during periods of non-use. Thus, while the exterior mounted extenders may be able to perform multiple functions, they still suffer from the drawbacks of an unattractive appearance and taking up room in the bed even when not in use.
Positioning the extended supplemental tailgate structure generally perpendicularly to the plane of the main tailgate structure, while the main tailgate structure is moved to an open position such that the plane of the tailgate structure is substantially parallel to the bed of the pickup truck, places the extended supplemental tailgate structure in an orientation that is substantially parallel to the main tailgate structure when the main tailgate structure is in a normal closed position. In such an extended position, the supplemental tailgate can provide a restriction to the rearward movement of objects located on the bed of the pickup truck. Furthermore, such an extended position of the supplemental tailgate can provide support for objects placed on top of the supplemental tailgate.
Positioning the extended supplemental tailgate structure such that the supplemental tailgate structure hangs below the plane of the main tailgate structure permits the cross member of the supplemental tailgate to be utilized as a step. In fact, U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,624, granted on Jul. 19, 2005, from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/969,413, filed on Oct. 20, 2004, teaches that the cross member of the supplemental tailgate assembly can incorporate a flip-out step that enlarges the surface of the underside of the cross member of the supplemental tailgate structure to enhance the use thereof as a step. Such utilization of the supplemental tailgate assembly assists the operator in gaining physical access to the cargo area of the pick-up truck, which is particularly helpful whenever the bed of the pick-up truck to positioned substantially above the ground surface.
In some instances, it would be helpful for the person utilizing the step function of the supplemental tailgate assembly to have an extraneous structure to grasp for purposes of stability while climbing onto the step and then unto the top surface of the opened tailgate. Alternatively, it would also be helpful in some circumstances for the person utilizing the step function of the supplemental tailgate to have some extraneous structure for stability purposes while descending from the main tailgate structure via the supplemental tailgate assembly onto the ground.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a stabilizing support structure positioned for utilization while the supplemental tailgate assembly is positioned as a step, while being positionable in a storage configuration that would not interfere with the conventional operation of the cargo bed, or the operation of the supplemental tailgate assembly in functions other than as a step.